Category Archives: Land Use & Livability

May brought another full slate of issues into which the nine members of your Land Use & Transportation Committee could sink our teeth.

LUTC Mission

We made a first pass at identifying goals and objectives for the rest of the year and beyond:

Development. Implement programs to:

Establish Design Guidelines for residential and mixed use development.

Encourage developers to comply with demo and construction codes and laws, and establish responsive communications with neighbors and the community.

Good Neighbor Agreements. Renew or create GNAs for:

Concordia University’s on & off campus development plans, new buildings, parking, traffic, bicycle and pedestrian passage, and neighbor relations.

As many area businesses as possible.

Transportation. Pursue actions to improve:

Traffic safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles.

Alleviation of increased parking.

Homelessness. Work to:

Identify temporary “placement” locations and support resources.

Promote community awareness and engagement.

LUTC Operations. Work on:

Improving administrative and public communications.

Reviving the Safety and Livability Committee (SALC).

Engaging with like-minded local and city-wide groups.

A half-day planning “retreat.”

Bighouse development
See Bighouse Redesign Team member Spencer Parsons’ article (next page) for the status of developer Brian Spencer’s response to the redesign recommendations resulting from his and CNA Chair Isaac Quintero’s meeting with him that was facilitated by Concordia University CFO Denny Stoecklin. For current info, check the CNA website “Bighouse sidebar”.

Residential demolitions

Nice to have some relatively good news to report on this front! On behalf of the nearby neighbors who received a demolition notice for the house at the SE corner of 37th and Killingsworth, I contacted developer Satterberg Construction to find they are using deconstruction to salvage many internal features and materials for use in the four “standalone” 2-story single family residence homes they’ll fit on the property’s R2 zoned lots totaling nearly 12,000 sq. ft. One house has a detached garage with the others integrated, and all have basements, 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths.

Not only do John and Brandy Satterberg, Portland natives who live in Hosford Abernathy, specialize in building classic Portland bungalow style homes with quality construction designed to fit with surrounding older homes, but they are also meeting with the neighbors and a LUTC representative as part of their commitment to establish a positive relationship with the neighborhood throughout the year-long development.

Residential Infill Project

Public outreach meetings to get feedback on proposed residential zoning code updates to improve the scale of houses, narrow lot development, and alternative housing options are slated for June 13 – August 8. For schedule details and more info, see www.portlandoregon.gov/ bps/67728, email , or call Jill at (503)823-7624.

Mixed Use Zoning Project

Though public testimony on the Mixed Use Zoning Draft closed May 24, comments on the resulting Composite Zoning Map can be submitted in writing and via the online Map App until the Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC) July 12 Hearing. See www. portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/572733, email, or call the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) at (503) 823-7700.

Comprehensive Plan

The final City Council vote on its Comprehensive Plan Amendments will be June 15 and the full package vote is expected in August. BPS is holding “Neighborhood Drop-In Hours” Tuesday June 21 at the Hollywood Library from 5-7 p.m. And you can always contact the City Council directly, call BPS at (503) 823-7700, or go to www.portlandoregon. gov/bps.

Transportation

In response to calls to “provide safe passage for all bicyclists and pedestrians using N.E. Portland Blvd./US 30,” after the tragic bicyclist death last December at the 42nd Avenue crossing, ODOT says its traffic study indicates this “road” is “too busy” to qualify for traffic calming installations. The LUTC is sending letters to elected and bureau leaders at both the City and State to help pressure ODOT to act. We encourage continued citizen requests to “Ask ODOT” at 888- 275-6368 or www.oregon.gov/ODOT.

Everyone in Concordia has had the opportunity to watch a house be torn down to make way for new houses, duplexes, and “skinnies,” for better and/or for worse. This is the continued chronicle of my personal experience.

The spaceship has landed

The finishing touches are now being put up or in. The outside, with the exception of the very limited yard area, is complete. Blinding white and a morose sleet grey were the colors chosen, and the workers who painted it repeatedly joked about the bland choice.

To highlight its faux-modern looks, gaudy outdoor lighting floods down from the roof line making the structure seem a cubist alien spaceship that landed mistakenly far from its square launch site.

One of the developers repeatedly leaves most of the lights on in the drapeless windows, apparently to act as a beacon for would-be buyers. Driving in his slick Land Rover, he often drives by at odd hours to revel in the cheesy magnificence of his bread box, undoubtedly giddy about future profit. And as I come down my street, any hint of my own home is blocked by these well-lit sheer cliff walls leaving my end of the street cut off from the rest of the neighborhood. It’s a stark reminder of the “new” Portland and its decidedly un-Portland values.

Excessive noise, sidewalk

Since the neighbors complained to the City about excessive off-hour construction noise two months ago, the noise issues continue. Power saws running after 8 p.m. split the evening silence, and cement trucks chug out their loads at 7 a.m. many mornings of the week, fostering more negative resentment for the project. The only silver lining has been that after a year of construction there is finally a sidewalk – great for the kids and less abled-bodied neighbors who have been forced onto the street all this time.

Final days

By early June, this two-headed monster will be on the market. The neighbors wonder who will move in. It certainly will not be working-class families, artists or displaced former residents. Each unit, with fake fireplaces and cement pad backyards, will sell for a half million dollars, excluding many buyers. Those who have the cash and appreciate this plastic grandeur of new Portland will likely not value green space, gardening, outdoor hanging out, or community interaction. They will be impressed by the chunky angles, the glaring sharpness, and the blinding lights.

Of course, if they are nice, the neighborhood will embrace them with little to no resentment, the long-time residents keeping the communal spirit alive.

As for the developers, they will have profited greatly on our neighborhood and given back almost nothing save for a two-year headache and an eyesore which will arrogantly stand forever as a gross representation of the selling out of our neighborhood, our city, our values and our quickly-dying culture that put the good of the community before personal profit.

This native N.E. Portlander now has a permanent reminder of his lost hometown right next door. Sadly, with thoughtful urban planning and reflected city regulations, it wouldn’t be this way.

Concerned? Here’s what to do

Contact Portland City Council, get involved with the neighborhood association, start a petition. The question is not if we change but how we change.

Luke Griffin is a native of Northeast Portland. A committed social and environmental activist, he has written for numerous publications, dedicated time fighting for civil rights in housing, served on the CNA board, and utilized world-bridging communication and management skills for the positive betterment of society. He is currently a freelance writer and is completing his Masters of Teaching at Concordia University. Reach Luke by emailing lukeg003@gmail.com.

This new duplex under construction is the one discussed in this article; the author livesdirectly north of the new building. The project is located on NE 32nd Avenue between Emerson and Sumner streets. Photo by Susan Trabucco

Everyone in Concordia has had the opportunity to watch a house be torn down to make way for new houses, duplexes, and “skinnies,” for better and/or for worse. This is the continued chronicle of my personal experience.

The project next door has been going on now for over a year and a half. Very little of it could be described as “good” for our street. Between the profit hungry, rude developers who threaten neighbors, to the out of place monstrosity now looming over the quaint surrounding houses, to the heartless city government with its intentional ineptness—aiding and abetting the project while sacrificing Concordia’s character so as to rake in more revenue—the process has been utterly depressing for this native of NE Portland. Such projects are not simply about demolitions and new construction but instead reflect who we are as a city and sadly, many of the Portland values that led us to love this place are being destroyed as quickly as the old homes.

Positive change

The only good part of this entry is that a new foreman now controls the job site. In an apparent “180” from all past experiences, he seem to actually care about the people impacted by this project. His first day on the job he apologetically came to my door to talk with me. It wasn’t a canned, corporate spiel but a real conversation. He said he was brought on to do the finishing work but would make sure to talk to us about anything from fences to tree lines. He seemed to truly be open to suggestions and indeed worked with me on the shared fence. He also made sure the job site was cleaned up, the outhouse was taken off my property, and the crews polite.

As much as I loathe the cheap monolith next door, he did not design the post modern, San Diego bread box nor did he decide to plant it smack dab in the middle of our quiet block. So how could I dislike him?

And it is exactly this sort of deference, along with an open dialogue with the neighborhood, that is needed to have progressive change in our town while protecting livability, history, and culture.

The finisher says he is like this because he lives in a similar neighborhood in SE and tries to imagine if this was happening next door to his family. Unfortunately, his attitude is rare and there are no regulations from the city to ensure those who care only about ballooning profits without connection to the community will be so thoughtful.

Graveling over paradise path

Like many blocks in Concordia, ours has an alley. It was a green corridor with some unkept places, but pretty with flowers, trees, and grass making it a little nature trail. But not anymore. The City decided the duplex must have off-street parking accessed from the alley; therefore, the entire length had to be leveled, graveled, and at the entry points, paved.

The developers did not want to pay for it and even ironically argued the neighbors wouldn’t like it. The City inspector said he didn’t care. The alley was City property and they could do with it what they wanted. To the chagrin and detriment of just about everyone, the alley way is no longer green and in the summer the rocks will be piping hot. Because it is still a narrow, hard-to-access alley, we all expect the new owners to park on the street anyway.

Outraged? Here’s what to do

Contact Portland City Council, get involved with the neighborhood association, start a petition. The question is not if we change but how we change.

Luke Griffin is a native of Northeast Portland. A committed social and environmental activist, he has written for numerous publications, dedicated time fighting for civil rights in housing, served on the CNA board, and utilized world-bridging communication and management skills for the positive betterment of society. He is currently a freelance writer and is completing his Masters of Teaching at Concordia University. Reach Luke by emailing lukeg003@gmail.com.

An example of “Middle Housing” is this duplex at NE Flanders & 27th. Photo by Garlynn Woodsong

There’s a pretty hot topic being discussed now in Portland and in other cities across the nation. It’s Missing Middle Housing, a term coined only a few years ago, in 2012, by architect and urban designer Dan Parolek of Opticos Design in Berkeley, CA. The term refers to types of housing that are compatible with single-family homes in scale, but tend to provide more than one dwelling unit per lot, including:

Townhomes

Duplexes

Triplexes

Fourplexes

Bungalow Courts

Carriage Houses (Accessory Dwelling Units)

Single-room Occupancies

Townhome Courts

Courtyard Apartments

Small Multiplexes

Live/work units

Stacked Townhomes

These housing types can fill a much needed market gap, not just for young Millenials, but also for empty-nesters who are downsizing; elders wishing to age in communities; teachers, fire fighters, and the middle class; immigrants and others needing multi-generational housing; and families with children. The types all work regardless of tenure to provide both more affordable homeownership options as well as rental housing in smaller-format structures than the larger apartment buildings found on our main streets.

The demographics of Portlanders are changing. While the average number of people per home in the Metro region was 2.43 in 2010, it is projected to drop to 2.38 by 2030. For the average household size across the whole region to drop even this small of an amount (2.43 – 2.38 = 0.05 reduction in average people per household), the average people per home for new growth only will be 1.85.

This means increasing demand for smaller and more flexible housing, including these Missing Middle housing types. This means increasing demand for smaller and more flexible housing, including these Missing Middle housing types.

Everyone in Concordia has had the opportunity to watch a house be torn down to make way for new houses, duplexes, and skinnies, for better and/or for worse. This is the continued chronicle of my personal experience.

Unlike last year, this winter has been very Portland: rainy, dreary, and chilly. It seems it has rained every day since November. The rain is great though, especially after a year of drought, unless you have a poorly designed duplex next to you with no gutters. Then, you get a pounding waterfall cascading down onto your side yard, foot deep water the length of your house where your grass and flowers once lived, and a serious potential for dreaded basement flooding.

One morning during a deluge, I went outside to assess the damage. Because the building was poorly designed, the roof did not send water down the front, back and sides, off many peaks like normal houses in the area, but instead directed the waters into the center and then off to each side. Without gutters, there was a sheet of water pouring off and into my yard. Witnessing this, it was obvious there was a real chance of the water swamping my basement.

I had yet to complain to the developer about anything but thought he should do something now to keep my house from flooding. I called him and without any apology he told me they would do something sometime soon. I explained he really needed todo something ASAP, but he dismissed my worry.And in many ways, why wouldn’t he? There is no city code mandating that developments have gutters, real flood control, or anything that would protect neighbors. If my house was flooded, it wasn’t his problem. There would be no fines or actions taken by the city according to officials. And, as the developer does not live in the neighborhood, he wouldn’t have to deal with meat all. Panicked, I tried one last time to get him todo something. He hung up on me.

I called the city inspector and was told there was nothing against the law, the city had inspected the site during the survey and would not return until final inspection. I was transferred to erosion control. They told me I could dump sand in my yard. Later that day workers had covered the swampy mess with hay. The rain continued.

The next month was continuously wet. Though no visual water seeped into my basement, the humidity got to 90%. I know: I can’t prove the cause, so said the City, but the conclusion isobvious to most. On top of this issue, one Sunday loud construction began at 8am, a violation of the noise ordinance. Numerous neighbors complained. The police finally showed up around noon but the work did not stop until about four. At most, the developer received a $250 fine for the incident, a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the expected profits of over half a million dollars. The workers kept piling trash in front. They repeatedly blocked my driveway and rudely told me they’d eventually move.

And the City? Well, there wasn’t much they would do about any of it. With few regulations, minuscule fines for infractions, a maze of uncommunicative bureaucracies, and little motive to hinder the development boom, they were of no help, even if the lady at ONI was nice. The City That Works…but for whom?

Five weeks of almost continuous rain after the yard flooding began, they finally put up gutters.

Luke Griffin was born and raised inNE Portland. He’s been a Concordia resident for the last four years, and is a former CNA board member. Luke works primarily in the legal field engaging in social justice in the areas of employment, housing and the environment.

Lately the news that for decades two Portland glass companies discharged the toxic chemicals cadmium, arsenic and chromium into the city’s air have filled the media with stories of citizen outrage. State, county and local governments and community groups have suddenly demanded action from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

Less talked about is that the same toxic chemicals found in Portland’s air eventually make it into its rivers, lakes and wetlands through the process known as atmospheric deposition (or rain) and become an ingredient in a toxic stew. Local waterways flow with legacy pollutants such as PCB’s and DDT from dirty industrial sites, emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals and flame retardants, pesticides, and heavy metals like mercury and arsenic from coal fired power plants.

The Columbia Slough is one such locally-affected waterway. The Columbia Slough basin extends from Blue Lake and flows toward Kelly Point Park where it meets the confluence of Willamette and the Columbia River. The Concordia neighborhood is contained in the slough’s watershed.

Today the slough is cleaner than it has been for over a century. The biggest change came in 2000, when the city’s sewers stopped dumping raw sewage and untreated wastewater into the slough during heavy rain storms. Portland’s Department of Environmental Services works with Oregon DEQ to investigate and eliminate sources of fish contamination in the Columbia Slough. They also partner with The Columbia Slough Watershed Council on habitat restoration. There’s a fish consumption advisory, however, on the Columbia Slough and it’s been that way for years.

Pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to the toxins in the slough’s resident fish. Many Portlanders know that local waters are polluted and they wouldn’t dare eat fish from the Columbia Slough. Other community members, warning or not, have little choice in the matter. The houseless and poor often supplement their diet by eating the most toxic of fish: carp, bass and catfish.

In 2012, Lorri Epstein the Water Quality Director at Columbia Riverkeeper, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the Columbia River, took a catfish from the slough to the lab. The results were stunning. The catfish contained PCBs 27,000 times the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for unrestricted consumption and flame retardants. A carp from nearby Vancouver Lake tested in 2014 contained PCBs 30 times the EPA limit, mercury 3.5 times the EPA limit, flame retardants and other heavy metals.

“Fish advisories are not the answer. We need to clean up the river and stop toxic pollution from entering our river so that people can eat fish without the fear of getting sick,” said Epstein.

The Portland city council passed a resolution in March 2016 to sue the Monsanto Company for contaminating Portland waterways with PCBs from the 1930-70’s. There are still multiple point sources of arsenic and lead near the Columbia Slough according to recent moss studies. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality used the studies to pinpoint the glass companies as sources of toxic air pollution. The moss studies could also provide the map the DEQ needs to locate the owners of toxic water sources in the Columbia Slough watershed.

It’s been another busy month of important land use and transportation issues affecting Concordia residents.

Proposed R5 to R2.5 Zoning changeMany neighbors talked with Nan Stark, NE District Liaison for the Bureau of Planning Services (BPS), March 16th at the Kennedy School Community Room about this “upzoning” that would allow properties between NE Killingsworth and Jarrett from NE 22nd to NE 33rd to be more easily sub-divided from the current one dwelling per 5,000 square foot lot into two 2,500 square foot lots. Though the CNA LUTC is on record opposing this change, BPS still believes it should be in the Comprehensive Plan.

Submit comments about these and other planned changes by testifying, in person or writing, for the Planning and Sustainability Commission Public Hearing at 12:30 pm April 12 and the City Council Hearing at 6 pm April 14. For more info, call 503) 823-7700 or visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/50531.

The “Bighouse Building”Led by Jeff Hilber, a small team of dedicated neighborhood architect and development professionals is crafting cost-effective alternative design improvement suggestions to the 4-story, 30 apartment building planned for the “Bighouse”corner at NE 30th and Killingsworth that developer Brian Spencer, of 30th & K Properties LLC, agreed to consider when he presented preliminary design concepts at the February LUTC Meeting.

North Portland Highway Safety
In response to the tragic death of a bicyclist hit by a car in December, please “Ask ODOT” for “safe passage of all N. Portland Highway users, especially at the 33rd Ave. and 42nd St. crossings” by calling (888) 275-6368 or visiting www.oregon.gov/ODOT.

At first glance, the four-story apartment building slated for construction at NE 30th & Killingsworth feels like an all too familiar tale in Portland’s busy infill development market. But in the case of the 30th & K apartments, it’s the cast of characters involved and their existing relationships with the Concordia neighborhood that make it interesting.

In fact, the three key players involved with this new project have a well-established legacy here, specifically through their recent involvement in numerous expansions of nearby Concordia University campus.

Brian Spencer – The DeveloperBrian Spencer is the owner of Ascend Holdings and newly formed 30th & K Properties LLC. He is also the owner of a former Best Buy in NE Portland now leased to Concordia University as their Columbia River Campus. Renovations of that campus expansion were built by…

Union Corner Construction- The Contractor
Union Corner Construction was signed on to build the new 30th & K apartments. The company is also the general contractor for recent Concordia University campus expansions, including the library and community stadium, as well as the university’s new law school and library in Boise, Idaho. All of these campus expansions were designed by…

Mackenzie – The Architect
Mackenzie is a long-standing Portland architectural firm that is the designer of the new NE 30th and Killingsworth apartment building. A preliminary drawing of the building was included in the March 2016 edition of the Concordia News. Of their previous work with Union Corner Construction and Concordia University, Mackenzie boasts designs that are LEED certified, “sensitive to the residential context,” and “respectful to the surrounding community.”

In light of this significant history with Concordia University, it begs the question of how these three parties came together for the new 30th & Killingsworth development and whether the university is somehow involved. Considering the university’s involvement in the new Concordia Student Housing, currently under construction only thirteen blocks away on 17th & Killingsworth, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to wonder what might be in store for the new 30th & K apartments.

And while there is no doubt that this development group has built an impressive legacy of work in our area, one thing is certain: the Concordia neighborhood hopes that those involved in the 30th & K apartments will build upon their legacy of work by creating something that meaningfully integrates with the community and becomes something that the neighborhood will point to with pride.

Take a look over your back fence. In addition to seeing your neighbors starting their Spring gardening, you may see them breaking ground on some new construction in their backyards. They may be building new accessory dwelling units (ADUs), some may even be building them inside their property line “setbacks”.

Generally, construction is restricted around a property’s boundaries by setbacks specified in zoning regulations, However, in December Portland revised its own Zoning Code regulations regarding ADUs, including relaxing height restrictions and setback requirements for new ADU construction. Homeowners in Portland are now allowed to build their ADUs within the five foot property line setback.

Portland Zoning Code Section 33.205 contains the updated ADU requirements. ADUs can be created by converting existing space in a home to separate living quarters, by finishing unfinished but existing space in the home (like in an attic or basement), by adding to an existing structure (like a detached garage) or by building a new structure.

Is an ADU the right Springtime/Summertime project for you? There are some considerations to weigh. Like all new construction, building a new ADU (or converting an existing structure into an ADU) will typically be subject to all applicable City permit fees, as well as system development charges (SDCs) that are levied by the Portland Parks, Environmental Services, Transportation, and Water Bureaus to offset the impact of the new development on the services provided by those City bureaus. However, some SDCs may be waived by the City for ADU projects if certain criteria are met and the project is submitted on or before July 31, 2016 and receives final inspection approval on or before June 30, 2017. If you are considering undertaking an ADU project, your first call needs to be the City for details on the SDC waivers.

Your next call may need to be to Multnomah County. The question of how new ADU construction may impact a homeowner’s property tax bill is still up in the air. The following disclaimer by the City of Portland, or similar versions, appear in multiple places all over the City’s web page:

Construction of an ADU could result in a significant increase in property taxes under Oregon tax law. So before you start an ADU project, it’s important to contact the Multnomah County assessor’s customer service line at 503-988-3326 or visit their website at for more information.

For some, the potential tax implications may be a deal-breaker for building a new ADU. For others, while it is something to watch it will not be enough to deter the addition of an ADU in the basement or backyard. Eventually, the dust will settle on the ADU property tax question. Whether that time will come before the SDC waiver window closes this July is still up in the air. Stay tuned…

Spencer Parsons is a land use attorney who lives in and practices law in the Concordia Neighborhood. He can be reached via email or phone (971) 279-2018.